My topic is should the United Nations be abolished.
2. Give two reasons why you selected this topic.
I selected this topic because while the UN has done well, it will be forever remembered by it spectacular failures. It's an interesting topic and there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding it.
3. To what specific course(s) does your topic relate? Explain.
History
4. Determine whether the primary focus of the issue is cultural, resource, economic, environmental or political. Explain your decision.
The primary focus of this issue is a delicate blend of economic and political focuses. Between a complicated mess that makes up the Security Council, power struggles within the council between permanent members and countries that want to be members. As well as economic issues, can we really afford the UN?
5. Recreatethe following chart on a separate piece of paper. Using the following “K-W-L Organizer”, recall what you already know about your topic, organize any new ideas, ask questions and record your learning.
K: What I Know about the Topic
W: What I want to Know about the Topic
L: What I have Learned about the Topic from Preliminary Reading / Courses Studied
The security council of the UN is made up by 5 permanent members; China, Russia, USA, Britain and France, these five have the right to veto a proposal, even if it has the required nine affirmative votes.
Only successful with two out of three peace keeping missions.
Failed at the Rwandan Genocide
Reports of UN force members raping local inhabitants (usually women and children) during peace keeping missions
Can only "observe" and make recommendations for the future if one of the big five veto a proposal on a mission
Unanimity on the Security Council regarding the authorization of armed UN enforcement actions has not always been reached in time to prevent the outbreak of international wars
I want to more about the reform calls.
More about the failures (such as Rwanda)
More about the political struggle within the UN security council.
I have learned how the security council works, and some of the more successful, and popular missions (Suez Canal being one)
The power of veto on the council insures that most of the proposals will be vetoed by at least one of the five (esp. during the cold war)
6. Based on your prior knowledge and studies, what are three important themes or issues pertinent to this topic? Outline and explain.
1) Failures at keeping peace
2) Failures at preserving human rights
3) Money, political struggles between members.
7. Create TWO controversial statements about the topic that your thesis paper may answer.
Part Two: Developing a Hypothesis & Research Questions
TOPIC:
Should the United Nations be abolished? Is the U.N really necessary in the 21st centaury?
OVERVIEW OF TOPIC:
The U.N is an international body whose main goals is to maintain world peace, facilitate international law, security cooperation, economic growth, social progress and human rights. In most of these areas the U.N has failed spectacularly, and while progress has been made, and good has be done, but what little good that’s been done has been outshined by large failures. The U.N does not have its own military, but a number of members supply their own voluntary forces (called blue helmets) to aid in peace keeping missions. A report in December of 2004 has a rather large collection of sixty eight alleged rapes, prostitution and child molestation in Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, and Nepal. Blue helmets have been known to sign up just for the sex, they’ve been caught in bars with prostitutes, and they’ve tried to disrupt an investigation into the claims in the Congo and tried to bribe witnesses. We’ve seen over and over again that the U.N is not equipped to handle war. We saw it in Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia, and Cambodia. Millions upon millions are spent on these missions. With help of the Red Cross, the U.N helps people in areas affected by war, famine, and other natural disasters by providing food, safe drinking water and shelter, but even the UN will admit their own failures by stating that their own camp (Dadaab camp in Eastern Kenya) is not equipped to handle the overwhelming number of refugees from Somalia. Not enough water, not enough food. While many people are calling for a U.N reform, we’ve seen the U.N live long enough, it’s time to end it.
CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION(S) REGARDING TOPIC:
HYPOTHESIS:
Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS: You should have a minimum of TWO (2) questions of each type for your research. These questions should be clear and relate to your hypothesis. Remember, they should guide you in your research not confuse you.
Factual Questions
Where did the U.N fail? When did they fail, specific dates? What have the U.N done to acknowledge these failures? Who was in charge during these failures? Have they taken account for there failures?
Clarification Questions
What were the specific U.N failures in Rwanda? Bosnia? Cambodia? Somalia?
Why the U.N doesn’t work in today’s society?
Interpretive Questions
Why is the U.N failing in their peace missions? How do the U.N past failures compare with their present failures?
Inquiry Questions
What do the U.N failures have in common (do they have a repeating theme)? Are there outside factors that could have influenced the failures?
Part three: Essay Outline
Section one (intro paragraph)
A) Background info
The U.N has had a streak of bleak luck and loses of face. The U.N in now known for two things; organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, and their massive failures in peacekeeping. Loses in Somalia, the Congo, Rwanda, and Bosnia; recent scandals of U.N peacekeepers trying to disrupt an investigation into sexual abuse. The U.N is better equipped to handle wars between two nations and not the wars and terrorism of the new centaury.
B) Controversial questions
Should the U.N be abolished to inability to fight current terrorism?
C) Thesis statement
Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished.
D) 3 sub-topics/Arguments
1: Past failures have proven that the U.N in not capable
2: The U.N does more harm than good
3: The U.N in ineffective with current peace keeping missions and the changing face of war
Section two (sub-topic 1 counter argument)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
Past successes prove that the U.N is in fact capable.
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) A 2005 RAND study showed that the U.N was only successful two out of three times in peace keeping missions.
2) The U.N has had some major successes such as the Suez Canal crisis, Korean War, Indonesia in 1962 (West Irian), Indonesia in 1947-49.
3) The Human Development report from 2005 documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human right abuses since the end of the cold war, and is shown through evidence of international activism mostly done by the U.N
C)Concluding Sentence
While the United Nations have had many past successes, they are most often overshadowed by the glaring failures of the U.N
Section three (sub topic one)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
Past failures overshadow any good the U.N has done, and prove that the U.N is incapable.
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) Past failures like Rwanda, the second Congo war, Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia and Darfur.
2) If any of the “major five” veto a peacekeeping mission proposal than the U.N can only sit back and watch e.g. Hungary (1956), Suez (1956), and Afghanistan (1979-88)
3). Refugee camps in Kenya are grossly undersupplied.
C)Concluding Sentence
The U.N has many failures and has proven time and time again that it is grossly incapable of achieving anything. And when it wants to achieve something one of the “major five” from the Security Council veto it.
Section four (sub topic two counter argument)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The United Nations does a lot of good, especially in peace keeping, peace building, preventing wars, disarmament, and decolonization. Other U.N systems do even more good like the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) they are the more well known agencies of the
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) In 1980, the WHO declared small pox to be officially eradicated. The WFP reaches over 90 million people a year with food.
2) The United Nations is involved in disarmament, including land mines which claim the lives of nearly 4000 people a year, most of them children.
3) The U.N has been a major player in the decolonization effort of the world.
C)Concluding Sentence
While the U.N doesn't have the most reliable peace keeping track record, it does do a lot of good outside of peace keeping missions. Section five (sub topic two)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N does way more harm than it does good.
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) U.N soldiers have been kidnapped and used as hostages.
2) U.N soldiers have raped women and children in third world countries, and then tried to sabotage the investigation.
3) U.N soldiers have killed innocent people.
C)Concluding Sentence
The only good the U.N does is through it's organizations like WHO, no good is done by the U.N soldiers.
Section six (sub topic three counter argument)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N has developed strategies on fighting terrorism, and is effective in it's current missions.
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti is living up to it's mandate of restoring a stable and secure environment and promote the political progress, this is proved by the fact that musician Michel Martelly won the electoral campaign.
2) The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), was implemented in 2006, it's main goal is to measures to prevent and combat terrorism.
3) The U.N supports victims of terrorism, and has increased support for countries like Yemen fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist and radical elements operating within its borders.
C)Concluding Sentence
The U.N is well on it's way to countering terrorism and is successful in many of it's current missions. Section seven (sub topic three)
A)Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N isn't effective in today's society against the threat of terrorism, the U.N also spends billions of dollars each and every year on it's peace keeping missions, add to the fact that average citizens will agree that the U.N isn't the greatest when it comes to peace keeping. Most terrorist wouldn't take the U.N too seriously.
B)Evidence & Analysis
1) While the U.N has the CTITF, it doesn't actually do anything, terrorism is still happening.
2) The U.N has fourteen peace keeping operations, half of which have been in operation for more than a decade, spending billions of dollars each year.
3) Many people want the U.N abolished, it's a growing movement, mostly supported by angry Americans who end up paying the most to the U.N's budget.
C)Concluding Sentence
Section eight (Conclusion)
A)Summary of sub topics
The U.N has done more harm than good and has proven time and time again that it is overtly incapable in peace keeping missions (Both past and present) and cannot combat modern terrorism. B)Restate the thesis
The U.N was established to help people and keep world peace and has failed in both aspects. And while good has been done by the U.N (mostly due to sub-organizations such as WHO and WFP), it has not lived up to it's own charter and the standard that was expected and needs to be abolished.
The U.N has had a streak of bleak luck and loses of face. The U.N in now known for two things; organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, and their massive failures in peacekeeping. Loses in Somalia1, the Congo2, Rwanda3, and Bosnia4; recent scandals of U.N peacekeepers trying to disrupt an investigation into sexual abuse5. The U.N is better equipped to handle wars between two nations and not the wars and terrorism of the new century. Now only two questions remain; should the U.N be expanded, or abolished? Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar6 organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished. Past failures bog down any good image the U.N may currently have the fact that most of the time, the U.N does more harm than good, and the fact the U.N is an ineffective organization and cannot adapt to the changing face of war in this modern century.
Past successes have in fact the United Nations is highly capable in peace keeping missions. In 2005, a RAND study showed that the U.N is successful two out of three missions7, that's more than half the missions. 2005 seemed to be the year of U.N studies, as the Human security report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human right abuses since the end of the cold war, it documented this through evidence of international activism, mostly done by the U.N.8 Couple this with the fact that the U.N has had some major success during it's sixty-five year tenure, the Suez canal crisis9, the Korean war10, and Indonesia11 to name a few. But while the U.N has had it's successes, it's many failures overshadow the wins.
The U.N has had many past failures, failures that will always be mentioned when the topic of the U.N is brought up. Rwanda will always be synonymous with U.N failure, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed, all in the space of 100 days12. All the while, U.N troops were told not to shoot, the U.N even admits to their own failures. In 1995, the U.N set up a “safe area” for Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, then allowed it to be overrun by Bosnian Serbs, who killed thousands13. United Nations Operation in Somalia II, was an absolute and utter failure, ending with the Battle of Mogadishu, and the unanimous vote to withdraw all troops is Resolution 95414. The U.N just stood back and watched the genocide in Darfur instead of taking action15. The U.N even fails before the step foot in a country, the Security Counsel is an extremely flawed concept, the “Big Five” (China, France, Britain, USA, and Russia) can veto any mission proposal, but they wouldn't do that, since one of the goals of the U.N is too keep the peace16. That's exactly what happened in Hungary 1956, the USSR vetoed a mission because they were the one in Hungary17, and it happened again in Afghanistan, during the Soviet invasion, the Soviets vetoed the draft resolution18. Even when the U.N isn't involved with peace keeping missions involving troops, they still fail, the largest refugee camp in Kenya is grossly undersupplied and overcrowded19, and the World Food Programme is fraught with scandal.20 The United Nations has proven time and time again that they are incompetent, and when they want to achieve something it has the opportunity to be vetoed by the so called Security Counsel.
The United Nations does a lot of good, especially in peace keeping, peace building, preventing wars, disarmament, and decolonization. Other U.N systems do even more good like the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) they are the more well known agencies of the U.N. In 1980, the WHO declared small pox to be officially eradicated21 and the WFP reach over 90 million people a year with food22. The U.N is also involved is issues such as disarmament (both conventional weapons23 and weapons of mass destruction24), and land mines which claim the lives of nearly 200,000 people each year.25. The U.N is also a major player in the decolonization effort of the world26. In 1945, 750 million people - almost a third of the world's population - lived in Territories that were non-self-governing, dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people live in such Territories So while the U.N doesn't have the most reliable peace keeping track record, it does a lot of good outside of peace keeping missions.
Another argument is that the peace keeping troops (blue helmets) due more harm than good in the countries that they are involved in. They've been accused of child molestation, rape, and soliciting prostitutes in Haiti27, Burundi28, the Congo29, Sudan30, and Côte d'Ivoire31. U.N soldiers have also been kidnapped and used as hostages, in Darfur32 and Sudan33 among other places. Blue helmets have also committed murder in these third world African countries, like the Congo34. The only good the U.N does is through it's various organizations, and even that is limited.
The U.N has developed many strategies in fighting terrorism, and is currently on it's way to several successful missions. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti is living up to it's mandate of restoring a stable and secure environment and promote the political progress, this is proved by the fact that musician Michel Martelly won the electoral campaign35. The United Nations Mission in the Sudan is currently providing offices and political support to the parties, monitoring and verifying their security arrangements and offering assistance in a number of areas, including governance, recovery and development.36 The U.N is working in many countries that are currently experiencing civil war with high number of civilian causalities. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), was implemented in 2006, it's main goal is to measures to prevent and combat terrorism. 37The U.N also supports victims of terrorism, and has increased support for countries like Yemen fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist and radical elements operating within its borders.38 The U.N is well on it's way to countering terrorism and is successful in many of it's current missions.
The U.N isn't effective in today's society against the threat of terrorism, the U.N also spends billions of dollars each and every year on it's peace keeping missions, add to the fact that average citizens will agree that the U.N isn't the greatest when it comes to peace keeping. Most terrorist wouldn't take the U.N too seriously. While the U.N has the CTITF, it doesn't actually do anything, terrorism is still happening all over the world. The U.N has fourteen peace keeping operations39, half of which have been in operation for more than a decade, spending billions of dollars each year. Many people want the U.N abolished; it's a growing movement, mostly supported by angry Americans40 who end up paying the most to the U.N's budget.
The U.N has done more harm than good and has proven time and time again that it is overtly incapable in peace keeping missions (Both past and present) and cannot combat modern terrorism. The U.N was established to help people and keep world peace and has failed in both aspects. And while good has been done by the U.N (mostly due to sub-organizations such as WHO and WFP), it has not lived up to it's own charter and the standard that was expected and needs to be abolished. While it's easy to see the U.N does a lot of good, mostly their successes are sugar coated and hyped up in comparison to the massive, glaring failures. The U.N is a failing organization and it's only a matter of time before it get's axed.
1. What is your topic? Give a brief overview.
My topic is should the United Nations be abolished.
2. Give two reasons why you selected this topic.
I selected this topic because while the UN has done well, it will be forever remembered by it spectacular failures. It's an interesting topic and there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding it.
3. To what specific course(s) does your topic relate? Explain.
History
4. Determine whether the primary focus of the issue is cultural, resource, economic, environmental or political. Explain your decision.
The primary focus of this issue is a delicate blend of economic and political focuses. Between a complicated mess that makes up the Security Council, power struggles within the council between permanent members and countries that want to be members. As well as economic issues, can we really afford the UN?
5. Recreate the following chart on a separate piece of paper. Using the following “K-W-L Organizer”, recall what you already know about your topic, organize any new ideas, ask questions and record your learning.
K: What I Know about the Topic
W: What I want to Know about the Topic
L: What I have Learned about the Topic from Preliminary Reading / Courses Studied
Only successful with two out of three peace keeping missions.
Failed at the Rwandan Genocide
Reports of UN force members raping local inhabitants (usually women and children) during peace keeping missions
Can only "observe" and make recommendations for the future if one of the big five veto a proposal on a mission
Unanimity on the Security Council regarding the authorization of armed UN enforcement actions has not always been reached in time to prevent the outbreak of international wars
More about the failures (such as Rwanda)
More about the political struggle within the UN security council.
The power of veto on the council insures that most of the proposals will be vetoed by at least one of the five (esp. during the cold war)
6. Based on your prior knowledge and studies, what are three important themes or issues pertinent to this topic? Outline and explain.
1) Failures at keeping peace
2) Failures at preserving human rights
3) Money, political struggles between members.
7. Create TWO controversial statements about the topic that your thesis paper may answer.
1) The United Nations should be abolished
2) The United Nations should be expanded
8. Finding sources
1) http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/rw0403b.php2) http://www.ourcivilisation.com/moral/un.htm
3) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html
Part Two: Developing a Hypothesis & Research Questions
TOPIC:
Should the United Nations be abolished? Is the U.N really necessary in the 21st centaury?
OVERVIEW OF TOPIC:
The U.N is an international body whose main goals is to maintain world peace, facilitate international law, security cooperation, economic growth, social progress and human rights. In most of these areas the U.N has failed spectacularly, and while progress has been made, and good has be done, but what little good that’s been done has been outshined by large failures. The U.N does not have its own military, but a number of members supply their own voluntary forces (called blue helmets) to aid in peace keeping missions. A report in December of 2004 has a rather large collection of sixty eight alleged rapes, prostitution and child molestation in Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, and Nepal. Blue helmets have been known to sign up just for the sex, they’ve been caught in bars with prostitutes, and they’ve tried to disrupt an investigation into the claims in the Congo and tried to bribe witnesses. We’ve seen over and over again that the U.N is not equipped to handle war. We saw it in Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia, and Cambodia. Millions upon millions are spent on these missions. With help of the Red Cross, the U.N helps people in areas affected by war, famine, and other natural disasters by providing food, safe drinking water and shelter, but even the UN will admit their own failures by stating that their own camp (Dadaab camp in Eastern Kenya) is not equipped to handle the overwhelming number of refugees from Somalia. Not enough water, not enough food. While many people are calling for a U.N reform, we’ve seen the U.N live long enough, it’s time to end it.
CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION(S) REGARDING TOPIC:
HYPOTHESIS:
Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
You should have a minimum of TWO (2) questions of each type for your research. These questions should be clear and relate to your hypothesis. Remember, they should guide you in your research not confuse you.
Factual Questions
Where did the U.N fail? When did they fail, specific dates? What have the U.N done to acknowledge these failures? Who was in charge during these failures? Have they taken account for there failures?
Clarification Questions
What were the specific U.N failures in Rwanda? Bosnia? Cambodia? Somalia?
Why the U.N doesn’t work in today’s society?
Interpretive Questions
Why is the U.N failing in their peace missions? How do the U.N past failures compare with their present failures?
Inquiry Questions
What do the U.N failures have in common (do they have a repeating theme)? Are there outside factors that could have influenced the failures?
Part three: Essay Outline
Section one (intro paragraph)
A) Background info
The U.N has had a streak of bleak luck and loses of face. The U.N in now known for two things; organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, and their massive failures in peacekeeping. Loses in Somalia, the Congo, Rwanda, and Bosnia; recent scandals of U.N peacekeepers trying to disrupt an investigation into sexual abuse. The U.N is better equipped to handle wars between two nations and not the wars and terrorism of the new centaury.
B) Controversial questions
Should the U.N be abolished to inability to fight current terrorism?
C) Thesis statement
Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished.
D) 3 sub-topics/Arguments
1: Past failures have proven that the U.N in not capable
2: The U.N does more harm than good
3: The U.N in ineffective with current peace keeping missions and the changing face of war
Section two (sub-topic 1 counter argument)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
Past successes prove that the U.N is in fact capable.
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) A 2005 RAND study showed that the U.N was only successful two out of three times in peace keeping missions.
2) The U.N has had some major successes such as the Suez Canal crisis, Korean War, Indonesia in 1962 (West Irian), Indonesia in 1947-49.
3) The Human Development report from 2005 documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human right abuses since the end of the cold war, and is shown through evidence of international activism mostly done by the U.N
C) Concluding Sentence
While the United Nations have had many past successes, they are most often overshadowed by the glaring failures of the U.N
Section three (sub topic one)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
Past failures overshadow any good the U.N has done, and prove that the U.N is incapable.
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) Past failures like Rwanda, the second Congo war, Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia and Darfur.
2) If any of the “major five” veto a peacekeeping mission proposal than the U.N can only sit back and watch e.g. Hungary (1956), Suez (1956), and Afghanistan (1979-88)
3). Refugee camps in Kenya are grossly undersupplied.
C) Concluding Sentence
The U.N has many failures and has proven time and time again that it is grossly incapable of achieving anything. And when it wants to achieve something one of the “major five” from the Security Council veto it.
Section four (sub topic two counter argument)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The United Nations does a lot of good, especially in peace keeping, peace building, preventing wars, disarmament, and decolonization. Other U.N systems do even more good like the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) they are the more well known agencies of the
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) In 1980, the WHO declared small pox to be officially eradicated. The WFP reaches over 90 million people a year with food.
2) The United Nations is involved in disarmament, including land mines which claim the lives of nearly 4000 people a year, most of them children.
3) The U.N has been a major player in the decolonization effort of the world.
C) Concluding Sentence
While the U.N doesn't have the most reliable peace keeping track record, it does do a lot of good outside of peace keeping missions.
Section five (sub topic two)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N does way more harm than it does good.
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) U.N soldiers have been kidnapped and used as hostages.
2) U.N soldiers have raped women and children in third world countries, and then tried to sabotage the investigation.
3) U.N soldiers have killed innocent people.
C) Concluding Sentence
The only good the U.N does is through it's organizations like WHO, no good is done by the U.N soldiers.
Section six (sub topic three counter argument)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N has developed strategies on fighting terrorism, and is effective in it's current missions.
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti is living up to it's mandate of restoring a stable and secure environment and promote the political progress, this is proved by the fact that musician Michel Martelly won the electoral campaign.
2) The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), was implemented in 2006, it's main goal is to measures to prevent and combat terrorism.
3) The U.N supports victims of terrorism, and has increased support for countries like Yemen fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist and radical elements operating within its borders.
C) Concluding Sentence
The U.N is well on it's way to countering terrorism and is successful in many of it's current missions.
Section seven (sub topic three)
A) Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
The U.N isn't effective in today's society against the threat of terrorism, the U.N also spends billions of dollars each and every year on it's peace keeping missions, add to the fact that average citizens will agree that the U.N isn't the greatest when it comes to peace keeping. Most terrorist wouldn't take the U.N too seriously.
B) Evidence & Analysis
1) While the U.N has the CTITF, it doesn't actually do anything, terrorism is still happening.
2) The U.N has fourteen peace keeping operations, half of which have been in operation for more than a decade, spending billions of dollars each year.
3) Many people want the U.N abolished, it's a growing movement, mostly supported by angry Americans who end up paying the most to the U.N's budget.
C) Concluding Sentence
Section eight (Conclusion)
A) Summary of sub topics
The U.N has done more harm than good and has proven time and time again that it is overtly incapable in peace keeping missions (Both past and present) and cannot combat modern terrorism.
B) Restate the thesis
The U.N was established to help people and keep world peace and has failed in both aspects. And while good has been done by the U.N (mostly due to sub-organizations such as WHO and WFP), it has not lived up to it's own charter and the standard that was expected and needs to be abolished.
C) Positive, moral lesson learned sentence
While it's easy to see the U.N does a lot of good, mostly it's success are sugar coated and hyped up in comparison to the massive, glaring failures. The U.N is a failing organization and it's only a matter of time before it get's axed.
Sources:
1) http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/rw0403b.php
2) http://www.ourcivilisation.com/moral/un.htm
3) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html
4) http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/55875/max-boot/paving-the-road-to-hell-the-failure-of-u-n-peacekeeping
5) http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/subjindx/134peac2.htm
6) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jun/20/thefailuresoftheun
7) http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1059762.html
8) http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/16/world/un-details-its-failure-to-stop-95-bosnia-massacre.html
9) http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unosom1backgr2.html
10) http://bosniagenocide.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/serbs-holding-hostage-400-u-n-peacekeepers-in-bosnia/
11) http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3898648
12) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/10/opinion/10iht-eddizolele_ed3_.html
13) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm
14) http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/2005/overview.aspx
15) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/timeline_of_united_nations_actio.htm
16) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/892592.stm
17) http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/history.htm
18) http://www.mineaction.org/section.asp?s=projects
19) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1288230.stm
21) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/714025.stm
22) http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/16/world/un-details-its-failure-to-stop-95-bosnia-massacre.html
23) http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/09/17/un-darfur-resolution-historic-failure
24) http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/un-afghan-history.shtml#1980s
25) http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/921077--officials-un-air-crew-kidnapped-in-darfur
26) http://www.newsofap.com/newsofap-12057-26-sudan-four-south-african-un-soldiers-kidnapped-newsofap.html
27) http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23836&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo
28) http://www.un.org/terrorism/pdfs/Fact%20Sheet.pdf
39) http://www.betterworldcampaign.org/issues/international-security/fighting-terrorism.html
40) fhttp://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml
41) http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmis/
http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/2005/overview.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_Nations_peacekeeping
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/54228/john-hillen/picking-up-u-n-peacekeeping-s-pieces-knowing-when-to-say-when
Essay
The U.N has had a streak of bleak luck and loses of face. The U.N in now known for two things; organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, and their massive failures in peacekeeping. Loses in Somalia1, the Congo2, Rwanda3, and Bosnia4; recent scandals of U.N peacekeepers trying to disrupt an investigation into sexual abuse5. The U.N is better equipped to handle wars between two nations and not the wars and terrorism of the new century. Now only two questions remain; should the U.N be expanded, or abolished? Because the UN is a multi-billion dollar6 organization designed to help people and keep world peace that has failed in both aspects. Although it has done some good, it has not lived up to the standard that was expected and therefore needs to be abolished. Past failures bog down any good image the U.N may currently have the fact that most of the time, the U.N does more harm than good, and the fact the U.N is an ineffective organization and cannot adapt to the changing face of war in this modern century.Past successes have in fact the United Nations is highly capable in peace keeping missions. In 2005, a RAND study showed that the U.N is successful two out of three missions7, that's more than half the missions. 2005 seemed to be the year of U.N studies, as the Human security report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human right abuses since the end of the cold war, it documented this through evidence of international activism, mostly done by the U.N.8 Couple this with the fact that the U.N has had some major success during it's sixty-five year tenure, the Suez canal crisis9, the Korean war10, and Indonesia11 to name a few. But while the U.N has had it's successes, it's many failures overshadow the wins.
The U.N has had many past failures, failures that will always be mentioned when the topic of the U.N is brought up. Rwanda will always be synonymous with U.N failure, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed, all in the space of 100 days12. All the while, U.N troops were told not to shoot, the U.N even admits to their own failures. In 1995, the U.N set up a “safe area” for Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, then allowed it to be overrun by Bosnian Serbs, who killed thousands13. United Nations Operation in Somalia II, was an absolute and utter failure, ending with the Battle of Mogadishu, and the unanimous vote to withdraw all troops is Resolution 95414. The U.N just stood back and watched the genocide in Darfur instead of taking action15. The U.N even fails before the step foot in a country, the Security Counsel is an extremely flawed concept, the “Big Five” (China, France, Britain, USA, and Russia) can veto any mission proposal, but they wouldn't do that, since one of the goals of the U.N is too keep the peace16. That's exactly what happened in Hungary 1956, the USSR vetoed a mission because they were the one in Hungary17, and it happened again in Afghanistan, during the Soviet invasion, the Soviets vetoed the draft resolution18. Even when the U.N isn't involved with peace keeping missions involving troops, they still fail, the largest refugee camp in Kenya is grossly undersupplied and overcrowded19, and the World Food Programme is fraught with scandal.20 The United Nations has proven time and time again that they are incompetent, and when they want to achieve something it has the opportunity to be vetoed by the so called Security Counsel.
The United Nations does a lot of good, especially in peace keeping, peace building, preventing wars, disarmament, and decolonization. Other U.N systems do even more good like the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) they are the more well known agencies of the U.N. In 1980, the WHO declared small pox to be officially eradicated21 and the WFP reach over 90 million people a year with food22. The U.N is also involved is issues such as disarmament (both conventional weapons23 and weapons of mass destruction24), and land mines which claim the lives of nearly 200,000 people each year.25. The U.N is also a major player in the decolonization effort of the world26. In 1945, 750 million people - almost a third of the world's population - lived in Territories that were non-self-governing, dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people live in such Territories So while the U.N doesn't have the most reliable peace keeping track record, it does a lot of good outside of peace keeping missions.
Another argument is that the peace keeping troops (blue helmets) due more harm than good in the countries that they are involved in. They've been accused of child molestation, rape, and soliciting prostitutes in Haiti27, Burundi28, the Congo29, Sudan30, and Côte d'Ivoire31. U.N soldiers have also been kidnapped and used as hostages, in Darfur32 and Sudan33 among other places. Blue helmets have also committed murder in these third world African countries, like the Congo34. The only good the U.N does is through it's various organizations, and even that is limited.
The U.N has developed many strategies in fighting terrorism, and is currently on it's way to several successful missions. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti is living up to it's mandate of restoring a stable and secure environment and promote the political progress, this is proved by the fact that musician Michel Martelly won the electoral campaign35. The United Nations Mission in the Sudan is currently providing offices and political support to the parties, monitoring and verifying their security arrangements and offering assistance in a number of areas, including governance, recovery and development.36 The U.N is working in many countries that are currently experiencing civil war with high number of civilian causalities. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), was implemented in 2006, it's main goal is to measures to prevent and combat terrorism. 37The U.N also supports victims of terrorism, and has increased support for countries like Yemen fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist and radical elements operating within its borders.38 The U.N is well on it's way to countering terrorism and is successful in many of it's current missions.
The U.N isn't effective in today's society against the threat of terrorism, the U.N also spends billions of dollars each and every year on it's peace keeping missions, add to the fact that average citizens will agree that the U.N isn't the greatest when it comes to peace keeping. Most terrorist wouldn't take the U.N too seriously. While the U.N has the CTITF, it doesn't actually do anything, terrorism is still happening all over the world. The U.N has fourteen peace keeping operations39, half of which have been in operation for more than a decade, spending billions of dollars each year. Many people want the U.N abolished; it's a growing movement, mostly supported by angry Americans40 who end up paying the most to the U.N's budget.
The U.N has done more harm than good and has proven time and time again that it is overtly incapable in peace keeping missions (Both past and present) and cannot combat modern terrorism. The U.N was established to help people and keep world peace and has failed in both aspects. And while good has been done by the U.N (mostly due to sub-organizations such as WHO and WFP), it has not lived up to it's own charter and the standard that was expected and needs to be abolished. While it's easy to see the U.N does a lot of good, mostly their successes are sugar coated and hyped up in comparison to the massive, glaring failures. The U.N is a failing organization and it's only a matter of time before it get's axed.
Bibliography
Crossette, Barbara. "U.N. Details Its Failure to Stop '95 BosniaMassacre - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 16 Nov. 1999. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/16/world/un-details-its-failure-to-stop-95-bosnia-massacre.html>.
Krastev, Nikola. "Bosnia-Herzegovina: Coming To Grips With The UN's Failure At Srebrenica - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty© 2011." Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - Free Media in Unfree Societies. 08 July 2005. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1059762.html>.
Lynch, Colum. "U.N. Sexual Abuse Alleged in Congo(washingtonpost.com)." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. 16 Dec. 2004. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html>.
Manuszak, Jeffrey T. "With drawl from Somalia." United States Armyin Somalia 1992-1994. U.S. Army Center Of Military History. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/somalia/somalia.htm>.
Ross, Brian. "Peace at What Price?: U.N. Sex Crimes in Congo- ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. 10 Jan. 2005. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/UnitedNations/story?id=489306>.
"The United Nations and the Korean War." History Learning Site. 2000. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_korean_war.htm>.
"UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN SOMALIAII - (UNOSOM II)." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. 21 Mar. 1997. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unosom2b.htm>.
United, Nations. "Chapter 1." Charter of the United Nations. Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/index.shtml>.
1 http:www.history.army.mil/brochures/somalia/somalia.htm#p24
2 http:abcnews.go.com/Blotter/UnitedNations/story?id=489306&page=1
3 http:www.africafocus.org/docs04/rw0403b.php
4 http:www.rferl.org/content/article/1059762.html
5 http:www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html
6 http:www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=budget&Cr1=&NewsID=33429
7 http:www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf
8 http:www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/2005/overview.aspx
9 http:www.suezcrisis.ca/summary.html
10 http:www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_korean_war.htm
11 http:indroyono.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6%3Aindonesia-and-the-united-nations&catid=1%3Anews&Itemid=2&lang=en
12 http:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1288230.stm
13 http:www.nytimes.com/1999/11/16/world/un-details-its-failure-to-stop-95-bosnia-massacre.html
14 http:www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unosom2b.htm
15 http:www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/09/17/un-darfur-resolution-historic-failure
16 http:www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml
17 http:www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/1956/nov/05/fromthearchive1
18 http:www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/un-afghan-history.shtml#1980s
19 http:www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31687
20 http:www.newsweek.com/2010/03/23/food-for-naught.html
21 http:www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/smallpox/en/
22 http:www.wfp.org/our-work
23 http:www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/SALW/Docs/SGReportonSmallArms2008.pdf#page=2
24 http:www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/1540/
25 http:www.mineaction.org/section.asp?s=what_is_mine_action
26 http:www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/history.htm
27 http:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm
28 http:www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13623&Cr=burundi&Cr1=
29 http:www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html
30 http:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm
31 http:reliefweb.int/node/237922
32 http:www.thestar.com/news/world/article/921077--officials-un-air-crew-kidnapped-in-darfur
33 http:www.newsofap.com/newsofap-12057-26-sudan-four-south-african-un-soldiers-kidnapped-newsofap.html
34 http:www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23836&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo
35 http:www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/minustah/elections.shtml
36 http:www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmis/
37 http:www.un.org/terrorism/pdfs/Fact%20Sheet.pdf
38 http:www.betterworldcampaign.org/issues/international-security/fighting-terrorism.html
39 http:www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml
40 http:www.getusout.org/terrorism/index.htm